Weak Link
by Masaichu
Summary: Sometimes, Haku wished she and Dell weren't the only ones each other had. But when a third, new member moves in, she may find that two is better than one...Or is it?
1. New Arrival

"H-Huh? Dell-san, who did you say is coming?"

Haku stood in front of her brother with a confused look. He'd said something about someone actually coming to stay with them for awhile, but...who did he say was their name?

Taking in a deep breath, Dell rubbed his aching forehead with impatience. He needed to go out and buy cigarettes. _Now_.

"We're having 'family' over, that's what I'll say, Haku."

"But...We don't have any family..." She looked even more confused.

They were the only family each other had, weren't they? Haku and Dell were the only Voyakiloids she knew about...Was it like those movies? A long lost sibling? Or relative?

"Well, we do, and he's coming here." Dell sounded more and more annoyed, heading for the door to leave.

He was stopped almost immediately.

"B-But how? What's his name? How's he related to us? Dell-san, please tell me!"

She couldn't tell if she was excited at the idea of a new family member, or a bit scared. What if he didn't like her? Or what if Dell liked him more than her? How long was he staying?

Her head was spinning with all these questions. Was someone staying with them really such a big deal?

Well, to her it was...No one had ever set foot in their house.

"Calm down, Haku! Ugh...He'll be here in a few days, alright? And you'll get to know him then, so can I _please_ go out and buy my cigarettes now?"

Haku stepped forward to stop him again, but he bolted out the door as fast as his legs would take him and didn't look back.

Darn it, Haku thought. He got away...

--

The next few days felt like a blur to Haku. All she could think about was this mystery family member. All she knew was that he was a male. No name, no appearance...

What was he like, she wondered.

Did he look like they did? Was he a bad singer too? He'd have to be if he was a Voyakiloid...Did he play instruments like they did? She half hoped he didn't, because she liked it just being Dell and her.

Dell...Another guy in the house would mean Dell would finally have someone to bond with. What if he didn't do anything with Haku anymore?

That didn't mean she wanted Dell to _hate_ the guy, though...

A knock came at the front door.

This was it, he was here.

Swinging feet first off the bed, Haku took a long, drawn out breath before heading out of her room. She wasn't going to let this guy take over the peace in the house!

It'd stay the same whether he liked it or not! Yeah!

...Unless, of course, he was a few feet taller and a few pounds stronger...

--

Dell was already at the door when Haku appeared. He was giving her a look. It looked like a face of...caution?

She gave him a strange look back, but once he opened the door, she realized just why he'd done it.

Outside stood a tall male, looking sheepishly at the ground while shuffling his feet. He was as tall as Haku, with silver hair and red eyes just like her and her brother.

His hair had a small curl on top, like Dell, but his ponytail was shorter and tied off with a ribbon like Haku's instead of the bands that Dell often used.

He wore a long sleeved black jacket and long black pants with a purple stripe going down them on either side, and white shoes with purple along the bottoms, that hadn't changed at all.

Haku couldn't help but stare.

It was like he was a mash-up of herself and Dell, and to be honest, it creeped her out a bit.

The tall boy looked at them nervously, still shuffling and fidgeting. He seemed almost as creeped out by the similarities as Haku was.

Standing between them, Dell held his arm out towards the tall man and looked at Haku. What he said next gave Haku a brand new picture of what was to happen.

"Haku, this is...Uh...Hakuo..."


	2. Getting To Know You

Hakuo. Haku. Hakuo. Haku.

She compared the names in her head. One letter off. One girl, one boy. Both the same height. Both with the same face, the same ribbon and the same bangs hanging down.

It seemed impossible, but here it was, standing on their doorstep.

"U-Um...I can...Come in, right?" He asked sheepishly, his fingers fidgeting around with the zipper on his coat.

Dell stepped out of the way and allowed Hakuo inside. He brushed past Haku, who was still stunned from the sight of Hakuo.

She couldn't wrap her mind around it very well.

"Dell-san...How...Who..." She managed to stutter, turning around to look at the boy who was standing at the window now, turned away from them shyly.

But Dell himself was at a loss of words, really. Scratching his head, he tried to think of how to explain in the most basic way that Haku had a male twin of herself.

"Well, er...It's more like...I mean...Wait, no..." He shook his head in agitation, already feeling frustrated. Great, the guy hadn't lived with them more than a minute and he was getting mad.

"Let's just say...Uh...You're supposed to be modeled after Miku, right?" Of course he knew, but he wanted to make sure _she_ understood.

It seemed like she did, because she just nodded.

"Well, he's modeled after her brother." He shrugged a bit. "Not like I knew she even had one until now..." Dell added to himself, muttering under his breath.

Haku wasn't listening anymore though. Slowly, cautiously, she stepped towards Hakuo until she was right within reach of him.

He must have noticed this, because he whirled around towards her, afraid of what she was going to do. He really shouldn't have been afraid if they were so alike, but...

Their eyes locked for a moment, and Haku felt as though she were looking at herself in a mirror.

She reached her hand out. He did the same, but drew back.

She moved towards him, but he stepped back.

Well, they weren't exactly alike then. He was more...What was the word...Cowardly? She wanted to reach towards him and do...Something. She wasn't sure what yet.

A loud cough erased the quiet, and the two turned to Dell who was looking at them a bit awkwardly.

"I have important work to do, so...Why don't you two get...er...Aquainted?"

--

Haku sat close to the table in her chair, leaning on one arm. But Hakuo preferred to be sitting further away from the table. As in, almost to the other side of the room.

No attempts she made would get him to calm down and come closer, so she merely tried to talk to him in a friendly fashion and find something to connect them.

Well, they were already pretty connected, but still...

"Um...Do you like sake?" She asked out of the blue.

This seemed to catch his attention, and he looked up at her just a bit. "A-A little..."

In a flash, a glass of the slightly brownish liquid was handed to him, before Haku went back to her chair with the rest of the bottle.

Hesitantly, Hakuo stared into the drink before sipping it. Oh! It was his favorite...He wondered if it was her favorite, too.

"D-Do you like it?" She asked, making him jump.

"I-It's good..."

They stared at each other, in the eyes, for a minute.

Then Hakuo scooted closer.

--

By the time Dell came in to check on them, the two were laying on the table, heads down in their arms. The empty sake bottle lay on the table with the two empty glasses.

Heaving a long sigh, the workaholic plucked the bottle off the table and threw it in the garbage. The cups went into the sink to wash whenever they had time to.

Glancing at his two -it was strange to say two now- sleeping, half drunken siblings, Dell wasn't sure of what to do other than leave them there to sleep it off.

Before he left to get back to work, he draped a blanket over each of them and let them be.

Despite knowing she was alright and all, Dell couldn't help but glance over his shoulder Haku a few times on his way down the hallway. He didn't glance at Hakuo though.

Why did he suddenly feel so...different than before?


	3. A Useful Gift

**Before reading, here's some information to know: Hakuo's character item is a kotatsu, which is a table with a heavy blanket or a comfortor over it with an electric heater attached under the tabletop. This way, the heat is trapped under the blanket and makes for a cheap, great way to stay warm!**

With that out of the way, please enjoy this next chapter!

--

The next day or two in the Voyakiloid Household had been rather...filled with the desperate need to transition. It was strange having a third member in the house, much less one who acted almost exactly in the same manner as another.

Probably the biggest of problems they faced right now was the lack of a third bedroom. This resulted, unfortunately, in Hakuo being stuck sleeping on the couch.

Not that he didn't _like_ the couch, though.

It was softer than most anything else he'd slept on in the past, which said quite a lot.

But no, it wasn't sleeping on the couch that bugged him, it was that the house was so dang _cold_. What with winter just around the bend, and the house having little to no heat to begin with, it felt let being buried under an ice rink.

So what was he going to do about it?

Well, he _did_ have a certain little thing he hadn't bothered to move with him. It was too big, after all. But...

Maybe a little labor was worth it. It would warm him up, at least...

--

The little surprise, however, caught Dell at a bad time. Just as he was heading out the door for work, he practically slammed into a crate sitting on the front step that was bigger than his computer desk.

"What the...What the Hell is thing doing here?" He held himself in the doorway, staring in slight disbelief at the package.

Since when did they ever get mail of any sort? And just...What _was_ in there?

Behind him, Haku peered out at large box. "H-How are we going to get it inside, Dell-san...?"

"I have no idea..." He admitted, looking annoyed. They couldn't just leave it outside, but they weren't exactly strong enough to haul it inside either.

"What's outside?"

Haku jumped at Hakuo's voice, which made him jump as well at her action. As soon as he saw the package, however, the silver-haired boy sprung from his spot and proceeded to push it past them, leaving the two siblings with a look of awe.

"How did you..." Haku gaped, pointing as he pulled the box into the living room.

Hakuo couldn't help but blush slightly at the looks they were giving him. "I-I'm pretty strong, actually..."

"You don't look it." Dell remarked, crossing his arms.

With a sheepish look, the Yowane reluctantly took off his jacket in front of them, and surprisingly, he hadn't been lying. His arms were a slight bit thick, giving the sense of at least a little more strength than either Haku or Dell did.

"..." Shaking his head, Dell tried to ignore what he'd just seen and instead walked over to inspect the package.

"So what's in this thing, anyway?" He asked, leaning against the wall while lighting a cigarette.

A grin spread across Hakuo's face for once, and eagerly he tore open the cardboard to reveal...

"...What is it?" Haku asked, feeling a bit embarrassed for not knowing.

"It's a kotatsu..." Hakuo replied, his ego boost deflating fast. The thing looked like a table with a large comforter or a sleeping bag over it.

"I've always had it...I...I thought it could keep us warm..." Shuffling his feet nervously, he wondered now if this had been such a great idea to try.

Kneeling down, the boy crawled under the table, disappearing under the comforter before a snap was heard, and the kotatsu slowly came to life with warmth.

"S-See?" He crawled out and sat under it like a regular table. "I-It's electric and it'll keep us warm..."

Hesitantly, Haku stepped over and sat on the floor, sliding under. Her legs were enveloped in warmth, and it sent a shiver up her spine at the extent of how good it felt.

Warmth never felt so good.

All the while, Dell watched with slight curiosity. As tempted as he was to ask how much it would cost to keep the thing running, he decided it best not to break the mood.

"T-Thanks, Hakuo-san..." Haku gave a tiny bow of her head, a blush tinting her cheeks.

"It was nothing...Really..." Hakuo smiled back awkwardly, trying to imitate her. He probably shouldn't mention how much work it took to get the thing up here...

"Dell-san, you should come and-"

The workaholic was already out of the room, having run off to grab his laptop...

...Before promptly coming back and sitting beneath the table, soaking up the warmth while working as usual.

No one spoke, instead choosing the enjoy the quiet and wonderful embrace of the kotatsu.

And for the first time since he'd arrived, Hakuo felt like he'd been truly useful to his 'siblings'.


End file.
